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Category Archives: contemplation

It feels like just a few months ago I was in Busan, South Korea teaching ESL, eating gimbap and hiking in the mountains. In actuality, It’s been almost 2 years since I moved from South Korea to California to be with my then fiance’ and now husband.

Life is a grand adventure. Sometimes the adventure is fun, scary, crazy, hectic, chaotic, boring, surprising and everything else in between. However, that’s precisely what an adventure is; something unpredictable.

I left Virginia in 2013 to embark on a new chapter of my life: teaching ESL in Indonesia. With that journey, my entire world was flipped upside down and forced me to do a lot of self-reflection. I spent a lot of time alone. It was a transformational time in my life.

In Indonesia, I hit my rock bottom and learned how to dust myself off and pick myself back up.

In Indonesia, I also learned how to meditate, teach young children, self-reflect, be humble, quit drinking, stopped partying, tried out vegetarianism, experimented with veganism, and became celibate.

Indonesia was a whirlwind of an experience. I’d love to share the whole story with you one day.

***Before I posted another pretty picture of a flower or mountain range, I felt it was best to let you know about this new adventure in my life. The journey of a new family.

I got married to the man I love, changed my last name, and now, we’re expecting our first child. Her name’s Rose.

I’m scared, elated, overwhelmed, and everything else…

I’ve decided to embark on the adventure that motherhood brings. With all of its joys, struggles, heartaches, and laughs, here I go… into a place I’ve never been before.

And Rose, She will be loved. Her mother and father are excited for her arrival. There’s so much to teach her. There’s so much for her to teach us.

In this life, if we’re lucky, we wake up to another day, and within the new, we have the opportunity to be better than we were the previous day. This is my understanding of it. We fall, we get back up. Our only choice is to keep moving forward. The saying goes, fall down 8 times pick yourself up 9. Keep moving forward. I believe that quitting isn’t an option…life can be excruciating for us all at times… but it can also be beyond amazing if you allow it.

So, I’m ready for the beyond amazing adventure…and I’m looking forward to sharing some of the experiences with you along the way.

Naritasan-Temple belongs to the Chisan Sect of Shingon Buddhism. The temple is famous for the goma ritual where many votive offerings are dedicated in front of the Fudo-myo-o and special wooden goma sticks are burnt on the altar. No one other than Shingon priests who have been instructed in the secret rituals can perform this rite. The fire of the goma rite symbolizes the wisdom of Fudo-myo-o, and the wooden goma sticks represent the afflictions of human beings. By burning the goma sticks which have been inscribed with the human afflictions in the fire of Fudo-myo-o’s wisdom, the officiating priest prays with the devotees that their afflictions might be removed.

This outdoor gym is located in a forest in Busan where I love to go hiking. In many places here, it is easy to stumble upon a place to get in a little stretching and exercise FOR FREE in the great outdoors.

Above you will find a few photographs of works from the North Carolina Museum of Art.

My favorite piece, is the first piece. It is a sculpture by Rodin. It is entitled, “Monumental Head of Pierre de Wissant”. The caption states, “In this larger-than-life portrait, Pierre de Wissant’s introspective agony is amplified to an almost unbearable intensity. The tilt of the head, given greater emphasis through the unusual base of the sculpture, makes this agony even more poignant. The source of Wissant’s anguish was his decision to join five other civic leaders who agreed to sacrifice their own lives to win the freedom of their besieged city of Calais.”